Samsung Scores Deal to Make AI Chips for Tesla

Market Trends & Industry Dynamics - Samsung's chip manufacturing gains confidence despite losing market share [1] - Samsung aims to compete with TSMC in the high-margin foundry business [2] - The US government is trying to rebuild the semiconductor industry with the CHIPS Act, offering $39 billion in incentives [8] - The industry desires competition in advanced chip manufacturing to avoid reliance on TSMC [14] Investment Opportunities & Strategic Partnerships - Tesla is a marquee customer for Samsung's foundry business, trusting them with high-end chips for self-driving technology [3] - The deal with Tesla could increase Samsung's foundry business growth by approximately 10% [4] - Elon Musk indicates the deal with Samsung is bigger than $16.5 billion over multiple years [5] - Samsung is expanding capacity in Texas to supply US customers and circumvent Trump tariffs [8][9] Company Performance & Competitive Landscape - Samsung's semiconductor business has been a primary profit driver recently [2] - SK Hynix has surpassed Samsung in HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) chip technology [11] - Samsung is striving to regain ground and secure authorization to sell HBM chips to Nvidia [11] - Intel has not made significant progress in the foundry business, positioning Samsung as a strong alternative to TSMC [13]